UC Davis

This dissertation is composed by three chapters, talking about different topics in the power sector.Chapter 1 estimates the marginal curtailment rates for solar and wind generation. As the amount of solar and wind generation capacity installed in a region grows, there will increasingly be periods during which a portion of the potential renewable generation will need to be curtailed to maintain the stability of the electric grid. Across markets worldwide, average curtailment rates for wind and solar are generally quite low, often around 3%. However, these low average curtailment rates may overstate how much renewable supply increases as a result of further increases in renewable capacity. Using historical hourly generation and curtailment data from California’s electricity market, we estimate that only 90% of the midday output supplied by new solar and wind capacity goes towards increasing the state’s renewable supply – with the remaining 10% being discarded in the form of increased curtailments. Chapter 2 examines how trading of electricity across regional markets affects the benefits provided by renewable capacity expansions. The benefits of marginal renewable power depend on which generators it replaces and where the replacements happen. Focusing on the recent solar and wind capacity expansions in California, this chapter demonstrates that, about 1/3 of the marginal output from California’s grid-level solar and wind units is replacing imports from outside of the state. While the majority of the fuel cost saving happens inside California, most of the environmental benefits stemming from renewable expansions are distributed outside of the grid, which covers not only nearby states, but also other areas that are indirectly connected with California. Flexible electricity trading between states has dramatically increased the benefits provided by California’s investments in renewable capacity. The value of renewable expansion in California could be 15% less if there were no responsive trading. Chapter 3 estimates how the introduction of CCA programs affects energy behaviors of customers in both the short run and the long term. CCA provides an opportunity for its customers to pay competitive rates for cleaner energy. In this chapter, we build an analytical model describing how people make their energy related decisions. According to the model, the introduction of CCAs can lead to increase in energy consumption in the short run, and reduction in long-run energy investment, such as rooftop solar installation. Both statements are supported by empirical evidence using household level energy consumption data in California.